Santiago Leyba makes his vinyl debut on the label following the ‘Rooms’ tape released earlier this year. Recorded simultaneously, ‘Life, Money, Work’ shows the New York-based artist by way of Albuquerque, New Mexico, portraying the different characters one might have in a broken mind.

Sketching a strong criticism of America by means of disorienting vocals and slow-paced D.I.Y. electronics, SANTIAGO finds him performing alter-egos of sorts — ranging from forlorn ballad singing, to more guttural and strained barking seeking to describe a conflict in maintaining a unified persona. Paid labor, sex, and consumer goods. How America tells you to grow up when there is nothing left but complacency and oppression through economic and social means. It all goes down to the shortcomings of humanity, the tangled webs we weave, the impossibility of justice and fairness, and the pressure those things put upon ourselves.

New York-based Santiago Leyba becomes the sixth installation in our ongoing tape series. Picturing delusional struggles and states of duress, ‘Rooms’ was recorded in complete social isolation and comes ahead of a 12-inch release to be released next month. Lost in a perception of changed reality and dead-end labyrinths of thoughts, SANTIAGO’s persona splits into pieces and relates to the claustrophobia and paranoia that contemporary life inspires.

How it takes a toll on us all. The slowness and uncomfortable nature of the music, excruciating decay, makes it incredibly uncomfortable but weirdly familiar too, or feels like it is moving through places we have all been before. Cycles of shame, guilt, financial trouble, fragmented relationships. Paranoid impressions of modern life that manifests as music with an uncanny resemblance or nod to contemporary techno and electronic sounds. A rotting mannequin resembling music.